Psychic powers
Psychic powers are a distinct class of abilities that are controlled by the psychic energy of the user, rather than being based on life force like other magics. Psychic powers can exist independent of other magical abilities or alongside them, although few people develop both areas to high levels. Telepathy Telepathy is the most basic of psychic abilities, and is fairly easily learned. For this reason, telepathy is the most common psychic skill found outside of dedicated psychics. Telepathy includes a few different sub-skills, each of which is trained separately. Thought Projection Thought projection is the ability to send one's own thoughts to others. Basic users can only target one receiver, while those with more training can share thoughts with many others at once. Dedicated psychics can transmit their thoughts over a practically unlimited range, and anybody can communicate over a range of miles with some practice. Mind Reading Mind reading is exactly what it sounds like - the ability to see the thoughts of people who aren't transmitting them. This is necessary for two-way telepathic communication with somebody who has no psychic training, and can be useful in countless situations. It is generally difficult to read multiple minds at once, and it is nearly impossible to do so if any of them are resisting. When this skill is trained, the user becomes more able to break into guarded minds, and becomes able to see more than just conscious thoughts. Subconscious thoughts and even old memories can be revealed by a skilled psychic. Defense Psychic defense is by far the most common of all psychic skills or sub-skills. It allows the user to hide their thoughts from those who would read them, and to repel attempts at possession. All intelligent beings have some degree of defense, and any being with at least the intelligence of an average human can learn to guard their minds fairly well. However, it does take time and effort for a non-psychic to build up strong defenses, so many people don't. Dedicated psychics usually train their defenses to practically impervious levels, so most psychic-psychic combat results in stalemate. Powerful psychics can disguise their mind's psychic signature, and may even completely conceal it. Telekinesis Telekinesis is the ability to use one's mind to affect physical objects. Weak users of telekinesis can only move relatively small objects within a moderate range, but it can become a powerful ability. Users of telekinesis can train to control more objects at once, to control more massive objects, and to control objects at a greater range. Advanced users of telekinesis can form solid barriers by dedicating a portion of their subconscious to appropriately control objects that encounter the designated area. Possession Possession is the ability to control another being by seizing their mind. It is similar in effect to Blood Magic, but possession controls through the mind while Blood Magic controls through the body. More intelligent people and creatures are more difficult to possess, as are those who have trained their psychic defenses. Possession can be roughly split into several levels - suggestion, conscious aware, conscious unaware, unconscious aware, and unconscious unaware. Each level is more difficult to achieve than the last, so a powerful psychic who can control many ordinary people at the unconscious unaware level may have to resort to suggestion against a well-guarded target. Suggestion The weakest form of possession, suggestion is the ability to place thoughts into another's mind without them knowing that the thoughts are not their own. These thoughts may appear as sudden urges, mental images, or words spoken by a small voice in one's head. Suggestion develops out of thought projection, as the user learns to disguise their mental voice as that of the receiver. As a user of suggestion becomes able to create stronger and more complex urges and thoughts, they begin to move into conscious aware control. Conscious Aware In this form of possession, the target is still aware of what is happening, the attacker must continuously focus on the target, and the attacker must explicitly command each basic action. The target will not be aware that they have been possessed, but will instead feel the attacker's commands as irresistible urges. They will remember everything that they did, and they will resist powerfully if they realize that they are being possessed (usually occurs when a command is given that runs contrary to a powerful motivator of their own). As the attacker becomes more able to suppress the target's mind, they move into conscious unaware control. Conscious Unaware In this form of possession, the target has been placed into a trance, and therefore is unaware of their actions and will keep no memory of them. However, the attacker still needs to maintain continuous focus on the target, and they still need to command basic actions. A person who is being controlled in this way will generally not become aware that they are being possessed, and therefore they can be given commands that run completely counter to what they would normally do. Unconscious Aware In this form of possession, the target is aware of what is happening in the same way as they would be in conscious aware control. The difference lies in the amount of focus required by the attacker - most of the control is done subconsciously. Therefore, the attacker can give more complex or abstract commands, and then can leave the basic steps to be determined and ordered by their subconscious. Because so little focus is needed on the target, psychics who can possess at this level may be able to control multiple targets at once. Unconscious Unaware The highest form of possession, and the most difficult to achieve. In this form, the target enters a trance for the duration of the possession, as they would during conscious unaware control. The attacker doesn't need to devote much concentration to the target after initially taking control, just as in unconscious aware control. To put a target under unconscious unaware possession requires a very powerful attacker, and well-defended minds may be able to repel this type of attack from even the strongest of psychics. On the other hand, powerful psychics can often control several weakly guarded minds at this level. Golems Golem creation is a rather uncommon psychic ability. It's a bit of a misnomer - really it simply refers to the ability to create a new mind. The type of form it is bound to, if any, is often unimportant. The created minds can vary immensely in their abilities - a skilled psychic can create a mind as intelligent as their own, create a mind with psychic powers of its own, or bind other types of magic to the mind if the psychic has them available. A proper golem is a mind which has been bound to a physical object and which has been given whatever abilities it needs to control the object as though it were a body. This is usually done by creating a mind strong enough to use telekinesis, but a psychic who can grant their golem an elemental magic (usually through the help of an enchanter) may prefer that method. Shriek Shriek is uncommon among dedicated psychics, but is frequently used by Dracomancers. Shriek is a very specialized use of telepathy - the user bombards the target's mind with random thoughts, strong sensations, and bright images, with the goal of overwhelming them. When an attack is successful, the target will be unable to use magical or psychic abilities, and will often be physically incapacitated. Anybody with at least moderate mental defenses will be able to fend off a shriek attack, but the attack will be distracting to all but the most heavily guarded minds.